Chapter 5 of 10

Chapter 5

14 min read3,439 words

No matter how many ranks he was promoted, it was a good thing, saving him many years of toiling for military achievements. Shao Ge now faced the problem of establishing his authority and controlling his subordinates, first stabilizing his position as a centurion.

At dusk, Guo Shao left the training ground, first going to the barracks to fetch a mule from the unit to take his personal military supplies back. He planned to take the items and rush to the barracks that night to inquire about the unit's supplies of fodder and grain.

He was accompanied by five or six soldiers, all of whom were his old subordinates from the fourth squad when he was a decurion, and they also lived in the southern part of the city. These people were clearly more familiar and close to Guo Shao. In theory, he could turn the fourth squad into his personal guard, making it easier to control the entire unit with his authority and loyal followers. Unfortunately, the current decurion of the fourth squad was Yang Biao, who had just been demoted from a centurion to a decurion, and he couldn't be moved for the time being. This situation was rather unpleasant for Guo Shao.

Walking down the Zhuque Avenue, Guo Shao called for the soldiers to go home, and he alone led the mule down a side alley. As soon as he entered the alley, he heard the sound of things being smashed, coming from Yu Lian's house.

Sure enough, when he reached Chen's house, he heard the sounds of beating and a woman's crying inside. Yu Lian's choked voice said, "Let go of my hair... stop hitting me, how can I face people after this..."

"Whore! You still have the face to see people!" The curses were accompanied by the sound of slaps, and the woman's cries were heart-wrenching.

Guo Shao was instantly enraged. He let go of the mule's reins, saw that the pile of firewood from last night was still outside, and grabbed a piece to rush to the door. He kicked the door with a side kick, and the old door panel, along with its hinges, flew into the room. Dust from the door frame fell to the ground. Despite wearing over fifty pounds of armor, Guo Shao moved as lightly as a bird, taking a step to leap inside.

Inside the room, which looked like a hall, it was empty except for a table, two round stools, and a bamboo chair. The floor was littered with broken ceramic pieces. A man was sitting on the bamboo chair, still holding Yu Lian's hair. Both were startled by the commotion and stared at the heavily armored, fierce-looking intruder.

"Let her go!" Guo Shao shouted, pointing at the man with the piece of wood.

The man, recovering from his shock, sneered angrily, "The adulterer has come?"

Impressive! Or perhaps he hadn't realized the danger yet. Without a word, Guo Shao swung the stick at the man's head. The man instinctively let go of Yu Lian's hair and raised his arm to protect his head. With a loud crack, the wood broke into two pieces, and a bone-breaking sound was heard. A blood-curdling scream echoed through the alley.

"Guo Lang..." Yu Lian was also frightened, her face turning pale, and her shoulders trembling.

Guo Shao ignored her, threw away the broken stick, and took a step forward, grabbing the man's collar and tearing a piece of gray cloth. He then discarded the cloth and, with a hand like an iron clamp, grabbed the man's injured arm, lifting him off the chair. The man, whose arm was likely broken, cried out in agony.

Guo Shao carried the man, who weighed over a hundred pounds, out of the door and threw him into the foul-smelling ditch outside, where he struggled to get up.

"Stop, you'll kill him!" Yu Lian followed, her voice trembling.

Guo Shao stood there, his face ashen, exuding a killing aura. After a moment, he said coldly, "I have been promoted to centurion, and Commander Wang knows that I have a connection with the imperial son-in-law Zhang Yongde."

His voice was low and cold, devoid of emotion, yet it sounded terrifying. He wasn't boasting or trying to leverage his connections... he was simply stating a fact: the local authorities of the two counties in Dongjing would not dare to handle a centurion of the imperial army without permission. Commander Wang Degong of the imperial army, considering Zhang Yongde's face, wouldn't do much to Centurion Guo. If Yang Biao had beaten someone to disability without reason, he would only be demoted, as no one would speak up for him.

The man from Chen's family was still conscious, crying and looking at Guo Shao in fear. For a moment, the two frightened people seemed not to understand what Guo Shao was saying.

Guo Shao slowly reached for the saber on his waist, and the cold, fine sound of metal scraping against the scabbard echoed.

"What, what are you going to do?" Yu Lian grabbed Guo Shao's wrist, her eyes wide with fear. Guo Shao said, "I'll help you clean the pus from your wound."

...

The blade reflected the last bit of light from outside the alley, slowly lifting, the entire action seeming unusually long. Yu Lian could have tried harder to stop Guo Shao, like grabbing his arm, but she didn't. Even at the last moment, she didn't try to dissuade him, looking as if she was frozen in shock, just watching the whole process.

The blade's movement was not hasty but decisive. A scream was heard, and blood splattered onto the nearby wall. The man's head fell heavily onto a stone in the ditch, and a stream of blood stained the debris and sewage.

With the chilling sound of the blade cutting through flesh and the air stained red with blood, everything seemed to end!

Seeing him killed in such filth, Yu Lian felt a deep sense of sorrow, finding him very pitiful. In fact, she had never truly hated this man, even though he often beat and cursed her. She only felt pity and disdain for him.

But mere pity and sympathy could not sustain her in such a difficult struggle for survival. As a woman, enduring gossip and rumors for years and taking care of a disabled, alcoholic husband, she had long hoped to escape her suffering. Although she didn't want to admit it, this cruel scene did give her a strange sense of relief... but having a man, already the subject of rumors, kill her husband in front of her, made her feel very guilty.

She didn't even have the heart to think about how to deal with the aftermath of the murder, standing there in a daze, overwhelmed by complex emotions. Until Guo Shao called her, "Go and call the neighbors, have them report to the official shop on the street that I killed your husband."

Yu Lian's face turned pale, and she looked at him blankly, "Report you?" She saw that Guo Shao was wiping the blood off the blade with a piece of cloth after the murder.

At that moment, a scream came from a nearby house, "Murder, murder..."

... Yu Lian hurriedly called the neighbors, saying that Shao Ge had killed her husband, and everything was true.

After a while, she gradually understood what had happened over the past two days. Last night, when Guo Shao said he wasn't sure, and just now when he mentioned his promotion and connections with powerful people: it was because until last night, he wasn't certain if he would be severely punished for murder, but today he was finally confident that he wouldn't have to pay with his life!

This person was calculating, even in moments of impulse, he wouldn't act recklessly, but when he was sure of victory, he was ruthless, and his methods of killing were brutal, making him a truly terrifying person. However, Yu Lian realized he wasn't the kind of person who would do anything to achieve his goals, because he didn't kill for himself.

Even if he didn't have to pay with his life, there would still be trouble and a price to pay! Killing the man from Chen's family clearly had no benefit for him. And this morning, he had given her the deed to the land for free... why was he so good to her? Yu Lian naturally thought that Shao Ge had feelings for her. But upon further reflection, it still didn't make sense. Shao Ge was young, tall, and strong, and had just been promoted to centurion. It wouldn't be hard for him to find a virgin; if he just wanted to have an affair, he had many opportunities at the blacksmith shop, and he didn't need to go to such lengths. Even if he used force, no one could stop him, as there were already rumors about Yu Lian's infidelity in the neighborhood.

Soon, the officials arrived. First, the bailiffs from the official shop on the commercial street came, but seeing Guo Shao fully armed, they couldn't handle him. Then, more people from the county office arrived, including a coroner who went to the back alley.

Guo Shao sat in the shop, the murder weapon on the iron anvil beside him, as if waiting to be arrested. Outside, a crowd of officials and onlookers surrounded the shop, but no one dared to step inside.

Yu Lian, in the crowd, looked at him more closely for the first time, her heart filled with confusion. What kind of person was he?

At this moment, the officials dispersed the crowd slightly, and a coroner bowed and said, "The victim has died. The left arm is broken, the shoulder dislocated, and the face has a fatal injury from a sharp blade..."

An official in a wooden hat and a blue robe pointed at Guo Shao and asked, "Did you kill the man? Why did you kill him?"

"I killed him. The man named Chen insulted me, and I was angry. I intended to beat him to vent my anger, but I accidentally killed him," Guo Shao said, sitting still, appearing very disrespectful. However, from the color of the official's robe and the style of his hat, it was clear he was a minor official, possibly of a lower rank than Guo Shao, the centurion of the imperial army.

A man in a tall hat wanted to step forward to arrest him but suddenly saw Guo Shao reach for the saber. The official was startled and stepped back, exclaiming, "You committed murder and still resist?"

Unexpectedly, Guo Shao stood up, picked up the saber, and threw it out, indicating he would not resist, and said, "I am Guo Shao, a centurion of the imperial army's Xiaodi unit, under the command of Wang Degong at the Fengqiu Gate."

The official quickly stopped the bailiff and whispered, "Send someone to the north of the city to inform his commander."

Someone asked, "What about the suspect?"

The official pondered for a moment and said, "Take the body and the weapon back to the office for examination. Investigate the case and report to the magistrate before making a decision. Do not act rashly. Leave a few people here to watch, and call Centurion Guo to the back to wait... it would be better if he could write a confession."

Outside, Yu Lian, seeing that Guo Shao was fine, quietly went to the back alley and returned to her home to wait.

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